A method is well known in the prior art to form a radio network composed of two to "n" nodes which are geographically dispersed at mobile or fixed locations. In such networks, the nodes are "connected" if a so-called "line-of-sight" (LOS) distance between two nodes allows direct transfer of data. Previously, LOS connectivity information was gathered and disseminated using transmissions termed "radio-on-packets" ("ROP's"). ROP's were generated periodically by each node and broadcast to neighboring LOS nodes. Nodes receiving these LOS transmissions would use information contained within the ROP to update stored connectivity information. Thereafter, the node would rebroadcast the original ROP so that other nodes could be updated as required. For an "n" node network, this prior art "flooding" approach required "n.times.n" transmissions for a complete network update. The "ROP" transmissions were repeated on a periodic basis to detect and distribute network connectivity changes.
Such prior art network maintenance schemes are inefficient and costly because the time required for ROP transmissions prohibitively consumes a significant portion of the channel capacity. This constraint limits the ability of the network to effectively support user messages. There is therefore a need for an improved method for forming and maintaining a nodal network which overcomes these and other problems of the prior art.